Darkness and blood
by SlytherinElektra
Summary: Post-Avengers. The Chitauri are back on earth. Thor and Natasha visit Loki, who is getting every day sicker in his cell. Something is not quite right. Loki angst!
1. Chapter 1

Thor had stopped believing.

For so long, he had believed that Loki could be saved, that his brother had something good inside of him left. Not anymore.

He had threatened the world he loved, twice, had killed many innocent men and women, had brought a dangerous alien species just to try and get some power. And make everybody see how superior he was. Hell, Loki had even played with Thor's last lingering love for him and used it to stab him. Well, not anymore. He was tired of the lies, the constant betrayal.

Thor had realised how useless, how illogical his feelings towards Loki were now. No more. Now he was just an enemy, and he would be treated as such. Loki was never to be trusted again. Thor even thought it was better not to see the man again for a while, to not be trapped in one of his brother's little schemes. Although he doubted the man in the cell was still his brother - no, the Loki he knew had died long ago and never came back. This Loki sometimes acted like the one he once knew, only to try and see the hope in Thor's and then kill it going back to his venomous ways again.

Because there was only venom in Loki now, Thor was sure. His hatred had erased all traces redeemable qualities in his brother, left him nothing but an evil man. An evil who only played tricks and could never be trusted. It was sad, but it was also very true. His Loki was no more. His brother was a criminal, heartless and cold. Thor had given up on sentiment. He had given Loki too many chances already. No more trust, no more concern. He would focus on the people who loved him, people who had never betrayed him. People who deserved the affection more than a killer and a liar.

And thus, Thor ignored Loki for months, trying to adjust himself to this new feelings. To forget the hurt. He wouldn't go to his cell. Wouldn't have anyone talk about him.

He went to Midgard, again, to help out the Avengers. The Chitauri had come back, and with a vengeance. But nobody knew much about them. Where their hiding place could be, who was their leader, what did they want. And they didn't speak English, so communication wasn't easy. After days and days of tiring fights, the Avengers sent Thor back to Asgard to who so far, they knew was the biggest authority on those aliens: Loki. He had been with them for months, even made a deal with them, surely he would know something that would help them. But Thor didn't want to go there alone, and so he took Agent Romanoff with him to see if she could help him what of what Loki said were lies, and what truths and maybe trick him into telling them what they wanted to know.

Natasha wasn't terribly surprised when they got to Asgard. It was more or less as she had imagined, bright, shiny, a sort of Camelot in outer space. The people wore something that seemed to mix vikings and game of thrones, and they talked fancy, but understandably, just like Thor did. Anyway, they weren't there for tourism. They had a mission. So without any sort of tour around the strange world or introductions, Thor took the Midgardian to the prison where Loki was being held.

There weren't many people around, just some guards every now and then. Thor had explained Natasha that his brother was in a special cell that prevented him from doing any magic and that he was usually alone, unable to talk to other prisoners. But, that time, it was not the case. There was someone coming out of Loki's cell. Odd. Further inspection revealed that this person was Eir, the healer.

"Prince... I thought you were away." Eir stated, looking at Thor, confused.

"I was. I am only here to complete my mission, as me and my fellow warriors need some information from Loki. This is the Lady Romanoff, and this is Eir, one of the best healers on the realm."

Natasha shook the woman's hand, hoping they wouldn't lose too much time with small talk.

"What were you doing here, Eir? Is something amiss?"

"Loki has been feeling unwell for quite some time now. I only came to assess if his condition had worsened or improved. Try not to be excessively harsh on him, will you, Thor?"

But Thor refused to be soft. He would be as rash as it was necessary to get the information he needed. Nothing more, nothing less. This was a prisoner who had key information on the mission they needed to complete. Only that.

No more concern, no more kindness. Loki had only responded to it with aggression and insults. He wouldn't reply in kind, but he wouldn't be loving either. Natasha, on her part, thought this could be a good thing. If Loki was sick he wouldn't be put up a terrible fight. He would probably just give them the info so he was left alone with his pain. And he was proud too, he probably wouldn't want a former enemy to see him at his lowest. Yes, this could be good.

When they got in the cell, it became harder for Thor to stay detached. Loki was sitting on his bed with his back and head against the wall behind him, eyes closed and a grimace of pain in his face. He didn't even seem to have heard them come, lost in his thoughts. He was much thinner than when Thor had seen him last and there were shadows under his eyes. Maybe he was really sick.

Or maybe they were all lies.

Lies, just like everything else.

Natasha had to admit that she, too, was taken aback by Loki's appearance. She imagined he would have lost part his glow being a prisoner and all, but she didn't expect him to look this bad. She wondered for a minute if all the damage he had sustained while fighting them had contributed to this. She had always imagined him plotting revenge in his cell, concocting new brilliant plans. That was not what had happened, apparently. But she had to focus. Focus, Natasha.

"Loki" Thor's voice boomed on the cell. "Tell us what you know about the Chitauri."

It had to be fast, it had to be clean. It had to be done before Thor had time to worry and somehow ended letting Loki in his heart, again. No, they had a mission and the rest did not matter.

Loki opened a pair of glassy watery green eyes. Thor. Thor was there, but this was obviously not a social call. The thought of having to talk about the Chitauri did nothing except increase his stomach pain. He had wanted to have visits, yes, he had even longed for his brother's company after the occasional nightmares, but now he wanted only to be left alone in silence. Oh, and Romanoff was there too. This was surely a serious matter which meant they wouldn't leave easily. He sighed.

"Thor, Agent Romanoff, how lovely to see you again.· He said, a bit ironically. "Now, why do you need to know about them? I thought their race had gone extinct after Stark exploded that nuclear device."

"Well, they aren't." Natasha said, trying to read better their former enemy, but she could only see exhaustion and pain. "They're back on earth, attacking with no clear purpose, and we don't know how many there are. We need some means of communication and maybe some idea of how they work, their weak points, their possible hiding places."

Loki's eyes were watery as he moved uncomfortably through the bed where he was sitting, trying to cover himself with a black blanket. He didn't want to talk about this those days, didn't want to revisit that useless alliance that had only gained him pain.

"I am afraid I won't be able to provide much help. I only came into contact with the Chitauri using a messenger, someone called The other. He was the one who spoke to me and then to the Chitauri hordes to convince them to do what I wanted them to do. I never knew of any hiding place or chain of command. I only knew that I was their leader, and that they would follow me in exchange for the tesseract."

Avoiding, not giving any information at all. Thor had been expecting something like this, but it didn't make him any less angry.

"Loki, no more lies. I am certain that you spoke with more than one person and learned more than that in all the time you were there."

His brother didn't answer, just gave him an icy stare.

"If you do not share what you know willingly, then we will have to force it off you."

Loki let out a small laugh.

"And what do you plan to do, oh mighty one? Have Romanoff play his mind games on me? Force Amora or one of the others sorcerers to cast a truth-spell on me? Threaten me with your hammer? Please, do. Relieve yourself... torture me if you will. The answer is not going to change because I am, for once, telling you the truth."

Thor reflected for a moment. This was not things were supposed to be going. The plan was get the information and leave to join the rest of the Avengers, continue the battle. But Loki was obviously not willing, probably enjoying the attention, probably doing whatever necessary to make Thor's life more miserable. He didn't know what to do, so decided to seek counsel in his friends. They had known Loki for a long time too, they could offer a different perspective.

"We are finished, for now. But I will return soon, and I expect you to be more cooperative, Loki."

"I will stay here a bit more, if you don't mind." Natasha said, and Thor nodded.

And so he left, angry. Why did his brother always had to make things so complicated? And why was he feeling so bad for Loki? Part of him just wanted to hold him, and ask him what was wrong and get him some more blankets. Tell him to take better care of himself and ask Eir what had happened to him, to make him so look so unhealthy and weakened. But he couldn't. This was probably just an act, something thought to fool him and the rest of Asgard and trick them into releasing him so he could escape. Well, he was not falling for that again.

On the cell, Natasha tried to start a decent conversation, now that they got rid of Thor's hostility. That was obviously going nowhere. She took a quick look around.

"So, this is where they put you." She said, trying to sound casual. "Could have been worse."

"Indeed."

"Talking from experience?" Natasha asked, but the god didn't answer. He just left his blanket on a side of the bed, suddenly overwhelmed by the heat. He was a bit flushed, despite the paleness. Natasha doubted, not sure of what to say next.

"There is something strange here, you know. Because, for once, I believe you. But you spent a good while with those things, you should know more. We both know you're not stupid."

There was a silence. Loki closed his eyes again, trying to forget about everything. Romanoff asking delicate questions, Thor's coldness, his own self. But the world refused to disappear.

"What are you hiding, Loki? If you don't remember anything else... Did they make you forget? Or is it you who doesn't want to remember and has shut down your memories?"

Loki suddenly looked at her, a hint of fear in his pale eyes.

"What do you know, Romanoff?"

She didn't know anything... but she could deduce.

"I know that you had a deal with them and you didn't deliver. I know that there is a dark period time between the time you were on Asgard with Thor and the time you appeared here with the sceptre..." She was getting some vibes from Loki that she didn't like, but followed. "A period of time in which they could have done what they wanted with you... after all, nobody was going to come, you were supposed to be dead. They could do as they pleased."

There was it again. The fear. If Romanoff found out and told the others... if ever The Other and his master believed he had not kept quiet, then... Things could go very wrong. His head hurt like hell, but he held his gaze, trying to look whole and detached.

But Natasha was not buying it, and she was concerned. If those guys had scared Loki into silence, then they were more dangerous than they thought. Now, that information had become vital, but she would have to be careful to get Loki to talk. Very careful.

Loki felt memories coming back, of days and nights haunted.

Darkness and blood.

Two single tears made their way down his cheeks.

Natasha watched him in silence. This was a powerful warrior, someone with confidence, agency, a man of the royalty. And now he was crying in front of a stranger, of an enemy.

"Loki... What have they done to you?"

A/N: Hope you enjoyed as usual!  
And not to worry, I will finish my other things, I haven't forgotten Dignity or Torment... but one can try to be a multi-tasker, right?  
Hope you found this interesting, we'll see if it is continued.  
Feedback is love, as is very much appreciated.  
You know you want to review!


	2. Chapter 2

_"Loki... What have they done to you?"_

"I cannot tell you, Miss Romanoff. It is of no importance anyway, what happened to me. You probably would deem that I deserved it."

"It's important if it's preventing you from telling us what you know." She stated.

"Well, pardon me if I value my own sanity higher than the world of the people who humiliated me! Some things are best left forgotten, Miss Romanoff. And it is in your best interest too, because if they found that you knew..."

"Who? Found out that I knew what?"

"Not important. You should leave while you can, Miss Romanoff. You would not be able to trust what I said anyway, right, with me being a god of lies. Go back to your planet, I am sure some of those governments of yours have found a way to communicate, or a secret way to destroy them all. You had an arsenal before I arrived, didn't you? Maybe they have a secret stash of Chitauri killing venom or something."

Natasha decided to change her strategy, see if a different approach worked. Loki knew things, things that could be very useful. And she knew how to make people talk. It was one of her specialties.

"Don't you wanna get back at them? Whatever they did to you, I'm sure it wasn't pretty. Don't you wanna have the chance to... spit back in their faces?"

Loki shuddered when he heard the phrase. He could see flashes and bits of the deepest humiliation. Of excruciating pain and self-loathing. Of wishing he was dead. He looked away from Natasha, trying to focus, trying to get those images out of his head. Trying to forget. Trying to remain whole.

"What is that do not understand, Romanoff? I have forgotten. Even if I wanted to help you, which I don't, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything. I don't remember, Agent, and I was hoping it stayed that way."

Natasha could empathise with that. With not wanting to remember. Because you you knew if you remembered, then those memories would haunt you forever. The horror of the acts - the horror you had created. Yo, yes, she knew ways of unblocking memories, but she really doubted that Loki would agree to any of them.

But she'd come so far. And Loki knew things they needed - maybe he knew too much, and that was why they made him forget. But there had to some way to make him cooperate. Natasha's mind was working at one thousand revolutions per hour, trying to find a solution. She could do this.

She took in the god's pasty appearance and the slight flush on his cheeks, the look of pain. Maybe she could work with that.

"Ok, let's look at it this way. You're obviously in trouble, in bad shape. That _best healer in the world_ was just here and you still look like crap, so either they can't heal you or they won't. Help us out with the Chitauri and we'll give you the best treatment there is. The Avengers are a grateful bunch."

Loki just laughed. How stupid did that woman think he was? They would do no such thing as help him. They would use him and imprison him again, or maybe leave him to die and say they did all they could. He wasn't daft, but he pretended to believe her, just for a moment.

"You would help me?"

"Help us and we help you. It's as easy as that.

And I am supposed to believe that you would do that for me after what I did? That you would do any sort of effort to aid me? You, of all people."

Loki paused and looked at her in the eye. He may not have much left, but he still had his wits.  
"I will not trust you, Agent Romanoff. That wouldn't be too smart of me, now, would it? Like that saying of yours goes, fool me once..."

Natasha interrupted him.

"Ok, I get it. You can't trust me and I can't trust you. We're both professional liars, our word is has no credibility. So, why not bring someone trustworthy into the equation? Like Thor?"

"And what are you going to do with Thor, you'll trick him into wanting to help me or you'll trick me into thinking he's convinced?" Loki smiled.

Natasha was frustrated. The guy was good, which was not a positive thing right now. Maybe she should go back to the basics.

"Well, I was just trying to be nice here, Loki. But if you're not willing to listen to me maybe I'll have to let your borother's hammer do the talking." She said, menacing.

"Do you really think threats will work on me, Agent? Or are you simply running out of ideas?"

Natasha smiled, despite herself.

"I had to try, didn't I?"

But now she was facing a problem. She couldn't go back to earth empty handed, not when all the answers they wanted where just in front of her. And who knew if anybody else in the whole universe knew that things Loki knew, with the way those aliens seemed to cover her tracks. No, Loki was the key. She just needed time to figure a way to crack him, to get him on her side. It wouldn't be easy, but she had faced more difficult challenges.

Loki decided to ignore her and just go back to hiding behind his blankets. His stomach, his head hurt but he couldn't just wallow in his misery and complain. Not when there was an enemy in his cell. Why didn't she just go already?

Hours later, when Natasha was finishing the details of her next strategy, something disrupted the relative peace of the cell. A bunch of men wearing green and purple, led by a green and shadow that looked menacingly at Loki.

"You thought you could escape?" said its voice and it had a real strange echo. "You thought you could be safe here in your little cell?"

The shadow took Loki by his neck and shoved him against the wall.

"Not anymore, you little ant." said the voice and it had a strange echo. "We can move through this pathetic realm of yours freely now. You are done."

There was a green glowing and the shadow flew backwards.

Natasha tried to run to the door to get the hell out of there, knocked out a couple of guys in green and purple but when she was almost at the door she found one of those men aiming a crossbow at her. Right in front of her. No way out. Luckily, there was another flash of green and the man was out.

There was an explosion of green and all the men dropped unconscious, except for the shadow, that simply vanished. Loki was in the middle of the cell, breathing hard. They had come into Asgard, into his cell. They had robbed him of the last place where he felt safe. And now the world was spinning.

Natasha approached him, cautiously.

"Loki?"

_Don't pass out. You can do this_, he told himself, _get yourself out of here before they come again._

Natasha didn't really know what to think. Loki, public enemy number one and undesirable alien had saved her life. There was a magic crossbow on her chest aimed at her heart and suddenly she was saved. He had no reason to do that, in fact, he would have gotten rid of one of his enemies. But he stopped the man with the crossbow just in time. Why?

She got close to him. Loki looked about to pass out.

Outside the cell, there were noises. More people were coming at him, angry. They had slain all the guards. Loki knew he didn't have time. He looked at the red-headed woman - there was only one he could now.

"If I help you, back on earth - will you protect me? No games, no lies, not on your part, not on mine."

Natasha nodded.

"Take my hand. Before they get here." He said and suddenly there was blinding light.

Thor was reflecting about what he was going to do about the situation with his brother. He wanted to go back to the Avengers as soon as possible because he knew the Earth was in grave danger but he wanted to go back with something that would help. And then there were his many conflicting emotions about Loki. He wanted to hate him - he was trying so hard, but... There was people running, people screaming. Something was happening, something bad.  
Thor went to Heimdall immediately, because he would give him the most accurate version of the events.

"Heimdall, what is happening?"

"Strangers on the prison. We ignore where they come from, I did not even see them until they were already here. In Loki's cell."

Thor's expression changed to one of horror.

"... What about the woman who came with me, Lady Romanoff?"

And what about Loki, he wanted to scream but reminded himself his brother was not worth the concern and that this was probably one of his little schemes.

"She is alive... but no longer in Asgard."

When Natasha woke up, it was dark and she was in the middle of a street. At first she didn't recognise it and wondered if she was still in Asgard, and where were the enemies and what the hell was going on, again. Then she saw cars and houses and a small sign: Chapter street, city of westminster.

London.

At least they were back on earth.

"You got a little off-track there, but good job. At least those people are no longer about to kill us." She said, and then realised she didn't know where Loki was.

She looked around and saw a figure on the ground, unmoving.

"Damn!"

She ran to him.

"Loki?"

There was no answer.

"Loki, wake up!"

A/N: I don't know what I'm even doing anymore. It's 2:30 am and this is not good. Hope you enjoyed nevertheless. Reviews are always appreciated (unless they're flames). Love and Loki shaped chocolates to those who read and review and things.

You know you want to review!


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